Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH Shares Purchased by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,000 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Hilltop were worth $2,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 829,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,225 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Hilltop by 32.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,247,000 after purchasing an additional 192,991 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Hilltop by 38.6% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 546,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,653,000 after purchasing an additional 152,358 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 236.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,044,000 after purchasing an additional 324,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,711,000 after buying an additional 8,285 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilltop

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,200 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $77,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,220. The trade was a 20.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 29.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hilltop Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE HTH opened at $34.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.94. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.67 and a fifty-two week high of $36.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.19.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.25. Hilltop had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The company had revenue of $330.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HTH. Stephens lifted their target price on Hilltop from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of Hilltop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

About Hilltop

Hilltop Holdings Inc provides business and consumer banking services. It operates through three segments: Banking, Broker-Dealer, and Mortgage Origination. The Banking segment offers savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; lines and letters of credit, home improvement and equity loans, loans for purchasing and carrying securities, term, agricultural and commercial real estate, equipment loans, and other lending products; and mortgage, commercial and industrial loans, and term and construction finance.